The Mumsnet Miscarriage Care campaign: what you can do

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

As you may have seen in the press and on the TV this morning, we're launching the next phase of our Miscarriage Care campaign today.

We want health trusts to implement our Code of Care, based on MNers' experiences.

We're asking Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt, shadow health spokesman Andy Burnham, and LibDem junior health minister Norman Lamb to pledge to include a commitment to improve miscarriage care, based on the principles in our code, in their 2015 election manifestos.

We need your help to make this happen - please have a look at our action page and get your clicking and sharing fingers ready.

And as ever, please post here to let us know what you think and whether you're getting involved. We'll post up more news here over the week.

Thanks
MNHQ

When I went to A&E with a miscarriage I was told it was ridiculous to be so upset when I wasn't that far along. I'd been trying 5 years.

I had a miscarriage at 12 weeks, late at night and at home. I had been due to go in for a D&C the next morning. I phoned NHS Direct because it was late and I didn't know who else to call. The man I spoke to told me to 'put it in the compost'. I know I should have reported him, but I was so distressed and ill that I simply put the phone down on him.

leolo that's awful!! No one should have to hear that!

Thank you so much for the emails, tweets and letters, and for sharing your stories on here.

Please keep going: we want to make sure each one of these politicians has to give us a straight answer about whether or not there will be a manifesto commitment.

We're pulling together some statistics about the activity last week and we'll post that up here when we have it.

Morning! This news just in: shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham has agreed to come on for a webchat to talk about this on Wednesday lunchtime - please do put it in your diaries (we'll put up a link to the live webchat thread later on) so that you can join in, and let him know how important this issue is to you, and persuade him to make a manifesto commitment.

And here's the webchat link - please do join us on Wednesday at 1.45pm.

chippy that is awful. I had a doctor say almost exactly the same thing to me when I told her we were going to start ttc shortly. I hadn't even started yet but she insisted I might have chlamydia and asked how I knew DH wasn't cheating on me. I asked her not to do a test but I was in stirrups and couldn't stop her, so she did anyway. It makes you feel so awful and bullied, doesn't it, and like they're implying it is your fault.

Hello again

Some of you will already know, but wanted to let you know that Andy Burnham has just said that improved miscarriage care will be included in Labour's 2015 general election manifesto - hurrah!

We need to get the LibDems and Conservatives to match this pledge if we can so do please keep up the pressure by tweeting, emailing, Facebooking and writing letters.

Suggested tweet (although of course feel free to do your own):

Hi @Jeremy_Hunt & @normanlamb pls join @andyburnhammp in pledging to improve #miscarriagecare by 2015. tiny.mn/1sbGQYv

Thanks
MNHQ

That wasn't good RevoltingPeasant - all tests should be agreed/ consent sought properly before-hand

Nice tweet Rowan

Hi - I don't know if this is worth thinking on, or if it's too trivial, but I just got my maternity exemption certificate in the post today.

The letter reads "if you have a mc before 24 weeks you must return the certificate to us immediately. If your baby is registered as stillborn after 24 weeks you may continue to use the certificate until it runs out."

Am I being precious? - but I was pretty shocked by that. It seems very cold, no acknowledgement that that would be a tragic event. Not even "in the unfortunate event that..."

As DH said, yeah, if my baby dies in utero at 22 weeks, the very first thing on my mind will be "wahey, free prescriptions for a year!"

Hello - just wanted to direct you to the new campaign update here

Thanks all